1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a surface mount connector.
Description of the Prior Art
Connectors having a plurality of rows of contacts and adapted to be mounted on circuit boards are already known. Each of the contacts of the plurality of contacts of said connectors comprises termination legs adapted for insertion into through-holes of the circuit board. After insertion, the legs are soldered to the appropriate terminals which are located at these places. This known method requires that through-holes be provided in the circuit board. In addition, it is necessary to make sure prior to the soldering operation that all termination legs axially extend through the holes. It should be noted that said holes as well as the solder eyes necessary for soldering require a large amount of space on the circuit board. Said known connectors can be mounted in parallel (parallel mounting) or perpendicularly to the circuit board (perpendicular mounting). For the parallel mounted connector the direction of mating extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the circuit board, while for the perpendicular mounting the direction of mating extends perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the circuit board.
The insertion of the numerous contact or termination legs (presently up to 96 contact legs) into the through-holes of the circuit board can be quite complicated, and it has therefore already been suggested to provide solder terminals or solder pads on the circuit board for a connector of the parallel mounting type. As soon as a connector of this type is placed on the circuit board, the ends of the termination legs which are provided with flattened soldering ends, come into contact with said soldering pads. Inasmuch as the soldering pads for each line of contacts are placed behind each other, i.e. in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the circuit board, again a large amount of space is required on the circuit board. It is, moreover, not possible to lead the termination legs of a line of contacts, termination legs which are also placed behind each other, out of the connector in such a manner that also the lower surface of the circuit board can be contacted by said termination legs.
It would be desireable to provide a connector having a plurality of rows of contacts for mounting on a circuit board such that only a small amount of space on the circuit board is required and that no shadow effect will occur when wave soldering is used.
It would also be desireable to provide a connector in such a manner that it is equally useful for parallel as well as perpendicular mounting purposes on the circuit board.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a connector adapted to be mounted on a printed circuit board, the connector comprising an insulating body, a plurality of contact elements arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of lines, termination legs, each of which being connected to each one of the contact elements, the termination legs lead out of the insulating body such that after placing the connector onto the printed board, the three ends of the termination legs terminate adjacent to the surface of the printed board close to solder pads which are provided at the surface, characterized in that for each line of contact elements, the termination arms extend out of the insulting body such that the free ends of the termination legs are arranged adjacent to each other on a line parallel to the longitudinal axis of the connector.
The free space which is required for the soldering operation is provided within the outline of the insulating body, so as to reduce the required space on the circuit board. Specifically, the free space is provided by the dome of the connector.
According to the invention the same connector can be used for parallel mounting as well as perpendicular mounting due to the fact that the ends of the termination legs end on a line which is defined by the section of a supporting surface (i.e. the surface which the connector is placed on the circuit board) and the bottom side of the connector.